Cruz to the rescue
Lazio go under in the first half but are saved by Cruz in the second
Also on this day: September 20, 1959: Bologna Lazio 1-1. The Biancocelesti play well and get a point at Bologna. Lazio Hero of the day: Franco Janich
The season so far
The previous season Lazio won the Coppa Italia beating Sampdoria on penalties in the final. They hence qualified for the Super Coppa where they would meet the mighty Inter who had easily won the scudetto.
The previous season Lazio won the Coppa Italia beating Sampdoria on penalties in the final. They hence qualified for the Super Coppa where they would meet the mighty Inter who had easily won the scudetto.
The Biancocelesti had changed managers. The relationship between President Claudio Lotito and Manager Delio Rossi had worsened during the season so Lazio decided on a change: Davide Ballardini, who had done well at Cagliari and Palermo.
Before the start there were contractual problems with Goran Pandev, Cristian Ledesma and Lorenzo De Silvestri.
Lazio had spent quite a lot of money for their then standards to keep Pandev, but he refused to renew his contract. In the meantime, he claimed he was injured. He really wanted to go back to Inter and he pushed Lotito for a sale. The issue with Ledesma was similar. There were arguments over the renewal of the contract and the Italo-Argentinian also had a contract with Inter waiting for him. De Silvestri too had an dispute with Lotito over the renewal of his contract. All three were not allowed to play with the team nor even train with squad. De Silvestri would eventually be sold to Fiorentina, Pandev and Ledesma took Lazio to court in order to dissolve their current contracts.
So, Ballardini started the season without these three players but joining Lazio were Francelino Matuzalém from Real Saragozza and Julio Cruz, the legendary Inter striker.
In the Supercoppa Lazio surprisingly beat Inter 2-1. An incredible feat considering the might of the Nerazzurri.
Before the start of Serie A, Lazio had to play a Europa League preliminary round against Swedish team IF Elfsborg which they won 3-1 on aggregate.
In the first three games of the season Lazio had won two (Atalanta and Chievo Verona) and lost at home to Juventus.
The match: Sunday, September 20, 2009, Stadio Massimino, Catania
Lazio started well and had a couple of chances in the first ten minutes. First a Mauro Zarate shot was too high and then a Pasquale Foggia attempt was saved by Mariano Andujar. Then in the 12th minute Catania scored. Gennaro Delvecchio passed to Takayuki Morimoto who tapped it for Jorge Martinez, big whack, nothing Fernando Muslera could do.
In the 15th minute a shot from outside the box from Roberto Baronio just missed the target. Lazio had difficulty in creating anything dangerous so Ballardini in the beginning of the second half substituted Mourad Meghni with Julio Cruz and the Biancocelesti began playing with a 4-3-3 formation. The plan worked. In the 51st minute Aleksandar Kolarov sent in the box a low cross for the Argentine forward but his shot went wide. In the 58th minute Foggia crossed from the right and Cruz headed the ball in for Lazio’s equaliser.
Catania attacked and a deflected Alessandro Potenza shot in the 63rd minute could have put the Sicilians ahead again. A minute later a free kick allowed Martinez a chance but his shot hit the woodwork. In the 73rd minute Giuseppe Mascara had an opportunity but his shot was parried by Muslera.
A good point for Lazio at a difficult ground
Who played for Catania
Andujar, Potenza, Silvestre, Spolli, Capuano, Delvecchio (66' Ricchiuti), Carboni, Biagianti (81' Plasmati), Mascara, Martinez (81' Izco), Morimoto
Substitutes: Campagnolo, Bellusci, Llama, Augustyn
Manager: Atzori
Who played for Lazio
Muslera, Lichtsteiner, Diakité, Siviglia, Kolarov, Mauri, Baronio, Matuzalem (79’ Cribari), Meghni (46’ Cruz), Foggia (70’ Perpetuini), Zarate
Manager: Ballardini
Referee: Morganti
Goals: 12’ Martinez, 58’ Cruz
What happened next
Lazio would have to wait until December for their third win (Lazio Genoa 1-0). Ballardini was hated by the fans and not particularly loved by the players either. Lazio really missed the two rebel players but Mauro Zarate was not performing well either. He tended to ignore all his teammates and try to do everything himself, and obviously this was not working. By the end of the year Lazio were only three points above the relegation zone.
In the winter market transfer, Lotito made three fundamental signings: defenders Giuseppe Biava from Genoa and André Dias from São Paulo plus centre forward Sergio Floccari from Genoa. Floccari's impact was a breath of fresh air for the team and he scored three goals in his first two matches for the club. Lazio ended the first part of the season in 15th place with a 5-point cushion on the drop zone.
But in the next four games Lazio only managed two draws and were now third from bottom. Bye bye Ballardini, welcome Edy Reja.
In the meantime, Pandev had won his case against Lazio and joined Inter as a free agent. Ledesma instead lost his. With the arrival of Reja, all was forgiven and Ledesma was back on the pitch.
In Reja’s first match, Lazio won at Parma but things then precipitated with just one point in the next four games. At Cagliari, Lazio managed to win and also beat Siena the week after.
After the game against Siena, Lazio really improved. They won at Bologna after being 2-0 down, lost an unfortunate derby, but beat Genoa away the week after. With three games to go to the end of the season Lazio needed only three points to secure survival in Serie A. And they took them at Livorno with a game to go.
Prior to this match there was the game against Inter. Apparently, Roma supporters thought that Lazio had a genuine chance to beat the Nerazzurri, who were fighting for the scudetto with the Giallorossi. All Lazio fans however knew that there would be no contest against the strongest team in Serie A, and that was exactly what happened. But for the media and Roma fans, Lazio let Inter win. A ridiculous accusation that many still claim to this day, forgetting that the Nerazzurri went on to win the Champions League a month later, and therefore Lazio really did not stand a chance.
In Europa League they played against Red Bull Salzburg, Villareal and PFK Levski Sofia. After losing the first match against the Austrians they won two in a row but defeats in Spain and Salzburg meant that Lazio had to say goodbye to Europe.
Stephan Lichsteiner and Stefano Mauri were the players with most appearances (43), Rocchi was the leading goal scorer (10).
Lazio 2009-10
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 39 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
Europa League | 8 | 3 | - | 5 | 12 |
Super Coppa | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
Total | 49 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 57 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Lichtsteiner | 43 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Mauri | 43 | 34 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Muslera | 42 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Kolarov | 41 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Zarate | 41 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Rocchi | 10 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Floccari | 9 | 8 | 1 | - | - |
Zarate | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | - |
Kolarov | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - |
Mauri | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | - |
Cruz | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | - |
Let’s talk about Riccardo Perpetuini
Riccardo Perpetuini was born on August 4, 1990 in Latina. He started playing football locally but soon moved to join the Lazio youth teams. He played for the Primavera team and in July 2008 he did his first pre-season training with the A squad playing a few friendlies. He debuted in Serie A on May 17 2009 at Palermo and in the following season was part of the team even though he found limited playing time: just two appearances in Serie A and 3 in Europa League.
In January 2010 he was loaned to Crotone but played only 9 times. Back at Lazio he joined the Primavera team. In January 2011 he was loaned out to Foggia where he suffered a bad injury, but in his second season in Apulia he made 20 appearances. Back in Rome, he was sent on loan to Salerno for another two years. Here he participated in the promotion to the third tier with 33 appearances and four goals. In his second year he won the Coppa Italia Lega Pro.
In 2014 he was loaned to Aquila but had another bad injury. After ending his contract with Lazio, he signed for Cremonese but after four months moved to Mantua.
At 26, due to the number of serious injuries, he decided to retire. He became a dentist.
He was a decent midfield player who played in front of the defence, but had too many injuries and maybe not enough quality to make it. He played 7 games for Lazio.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Europa League |
2008-09 | 1 | 1 | - |
2009-10 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
2010-11 | 1 | 1 | - |
Total | 7 | 4 | 3 |
Sources
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